Evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 2

• 1.
  EVALUATION QUESTION 2: HOWDOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
• 2.
  CHARACTERS The only socialgroup which is represented in my film is teenagers. Most teenagers are associated with being wild, rebellious and lazy; however these ideologies are changing over time. Gender roles have been quite prominent in the past, but they are becoming more and more irrelevant in todays society. Females are associated with being weak and defenceless whilst the males are represented as dominant and strong however we did not include these stereotypes in our film as we believe it is becoming irrelevant among todays teenagers. However there are still stereotypes of characters in films. Vladimir Propp identified many stereotypes in films such as the villain and hero and Carol Clover identified that there is always a final girl left alive who is of an innocent state in a structuralist horror movie. We decided we were going to include some of these stereotypes in our film in order to have diversity and have a character in which each person of our audience could identify with. If we were to do the rest of the film we would very much challenge certain stereotypes such as females being weak as it would be interesting change from other generic horror films.
• 3.
  ELI HARRIS MALIAMYERS MACKENZIE LLOYD RILEY KING JACE HAYES We decided to have 5 characters, each of them with different traits and personalities in order to make our film as diverse as possible and to ensure that we cover most of the stereotypes and different kinds of people in the ‘teenage social group’.
• 4.
  REPRESENTATION OF SOCIALGROUP THROUGH COSTUMES We decided that we would keep the characters outfits and costumes quite simple as we want to portray them as normal teenagers in everyday life. Going to overboard on their choice of costume could take away the realism. Riley King dresses in a crop top and black skinny jeans. A crop top and jeans is a popular casual trend amongst teenage girls. Wearing such trendy clothing gives connotations of being very stylish and popular, which helps to reinforce that Riley is the ‘popular girl’. Another character, Malia Myers, also wears similar clothing however she wears a denim jacket, this gives her an edgy and almost rebellious look so she could be classed as the ‘rebel’. The last girl in the film, Mackenzie Lloyd is wearing a plain white top, a green cardigan and jeans. Mackenzie is classed as the ‘nerdy’ and ‘shy’ girl so the fact that she is wearing a cardigan instead of a stylish or expensive outfit reinforces that. Both of the boys, Jace and Eli are wearing quite simple casual clothing. The colours of their clothing consist of black and white which are pretty standard colours this could portray their straightforward (black and white) attitude towards the Ouija board. Jace is wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans which are brands like Adidas and Nike. These types of brands are usually associated with ‘chavs’ in this particular social group; and sometimes can be associated with a sporty teenager. Jace is represented as quite a sporty characters but also has a ‘chavvy’ attitude towards life. Eli wears jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, which is a stand stereotypical outfit of a teenage boy which shows that Eli is just ‘your average guy’. Eli is meant to be shown as a little introverted and nerdy in certain situations and the fact he wears glasses in our film helps to portray that.
• 5.
  REPRESENTATION OF SOCIALGROUPS THROUGH CAMERA ANGLES We included a lot of high angle shots looking down on the characters throughout the Ouija board scene. We did this to establish that the characters are very vulnerable and that they are powerless in the situation which they are in. The connotations of high angles amongst characters is usually that someone or something is watching over them and has control of the situation. We used two-shots and a few mid- shots to show the different levels of friendship in the group. All of the friends are sat close to one another which portrays their closeness and their unity. Two shots with Riley and Malia are usually used to show how they are best friends and are close with one another. We used shots to help convey the personalities and status of each character. In this scene Mackenzie is sat on the outskirts of the group and doesn’t look very involved as she is on her phone and is not joining in the conversation. This shows her shy and introverted personality.
• 6.
  REPRESENTATION THROUGH THEUSE OF LIGHTING The characters are first introduced in natural daylight, portraying them as regular teenagers. The naturalistic lighting in the home makes it feel realistic and that it is a simple standard home. During the Ouija board scene, you can only see the characters faces and the background is not lit up which shows that they are vulnerable and anything come up from behind them. Throughout the scene, the lighting gets continuously duller and darker in order to build up tension and show the situation getting out of control and more complicated until the final cut to black at the end; indicating something evil is lurking.
• 7.
  REPRESENTATION THROUGH THEUSE OF SOUND We did not use specific music or sounds to indicate each character as we felt that it would take away the edge of horror. Instead we incorporated eerie music which created a tense atmosphere and evoke feelings of horror from the viewers. The music used at the start of the film is less terrifying as the situation is quite calm and collected and nothing has gone wrong yet. But as soon as it switches to the Ouija board scene, the tension of the music amps up in order to get a rush of adrenaline and a feeling of anticipation rushing through the audience.